For Hannah Quijano, a junior in the College of Engineering, tour guiding is the most enjoyable job on campus.
“I wanted to be a tour guide because I just loved Marquette and felt it was important for me to share that information with everyone,” she says.
Quijano is not alone. Many tour guides love the experience.
Sabrina Galang, a senior in the College of Nursing, says her tour guide during her tour as a high school student made her want to attend Marquette.
“I wanted to be able to share what I learned at Marquette and why I love it so much,” she says.
She says tour guiding allows people to share their own Marquette stories.
Jake Lafleur, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, says he has enjoyed tour guiding since he was selected his sophomore year.
“I fell in love with the idea of creating my own Marquette experience and sharing that with prospective students,” he says.
Lafleur says he was originally unsure about coming to Marquette, but his tour guide sold the university to him.
Tour guides can influence incoming students’ decisions to come to Marquette, Kate Bracciano, director of visit programs in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, says.
Marquette receives about 18,000 visitors per year, Bracciano says. This includes tours and significant events, such as Discovery Days and admitted student days, which tend to have about 1000 visitors each.
Each day, Marquette has two to four tours, with summer days, Mondays and Fridays tending to be on the upper end of the spectrum, Bracciano says.
Bracciano says Marquette tours will showcase certain buildings on every tour: an academic building, Raynor-Memorial Library, St. Joan of Arc Chapel, the Rec Center, Alumni Memorial Union and The Commons dining hall.
Although there are facts and talking points, most of the tour is personalized to each tour guide’s college experience.
“You get a sense of what you want to talk about on tour,” Quijano says.
When tour guides are not taking families on tours, they work in the tour guide office doing administrative work. Each tour guide is required to work at least six hours a week, Bracciano says. Most of a shift is giving a tour that lasts about an hour.
Bracciano says she emphasizes to tour guides they are representing Marquette.
“(Tour guides) have a great responsibility in the role to impact prospective students and families,” Bracciano says.
She says sometimes students will see Marquette isn’t the best fit for them but still make a connection with their tour guide.
Some tour guides say this role can make them feel pressure to make a good impression.
“You definitely just want to give your best impression and make (potential students) feel like you’re 100% for them … (Sometimes) you are not being everything they need you to be,” Quijano says.
Many tour guides say that being a tour guide allows you to have a huge group of friends to work with. Galang says tour guides are a very unique and diverse group of people, because everybody comes from different experiences at Marquette.
“Being a tour guide is like becoming a part of another community at Marquette,” she says.
